Whale is West Sussex short mat champ

Peter Whale is West Sussex champion of champions / Picture by Kate Shemilt

West Sussex short mat bowls held their champion of champions tournament with the singles champs from the clubs meeting to decide who would reign among them.

After the round-robin games the semi-finals matched Lavant’s Peter Whale against Horley’s Graham Seldon and The Martlets’ Marc Lancaster against Mannings Heath’s Ken Williams.

In the first semi-final Peter Whale dominated, rushing to a 7-0 lead and going on to win 18-2. The second semi-final was close for half the game until Ken Williams took control over the final ends to run out the winner, 10-3.

Whale continued his dominating form in the final where he took control after the early ends and ran out winner 8-2 to take the title for a fourth time.

The county’s premier and A teams were also in action in the inter-county championship.

The Premier team visited Hampshire looking to improve on their narrow loss at home a few weeks ago and to overtake Hampshire at the top of the table.

They started competently taking four points in the first session but then failed to take any points in the second session to trail 12-4. The afternoon saw West Sussex win three of the four games in the third session and take the bonus points in the singles.

The good form continued in the final session with three wins and a narrow defeat by one shot in the fourth game. Unfortunately they narrowly missed out on the bonus points in the triples to end up with a 22-18 loss and remain second in the group – but qualify for the main KO stages of the championship.

In the singles Infinity’s Chris Page lost 17-11 and won 13-9 while club-mate Jack Rollings won 26-5 and 12-10. In the pairs Southbourne’s Robin Armstrong and Lavant’s Peter Whale lost 20-9 and 17-7 while The Martlets’ pairing of Chris Blackman and Malcolm Rollings won 12-9 and 12-7.

In the triples Crablands’ Joyce Abel with Lavant’s Peter Winter lost 12-7 and won 16-11 while the Southbourne combination of Audrey Bull, Andy Smith and Dave Alner lost 10-5 and won 10-8.

In the fours Lavant’s Jackie Lee lost 16-4 and 10-11 while Southbourne’s Karen Alner with Infinity’s Denise Kirby, Steve Jeffery and Charlotte Rollings lost 12-8 and won 13-9.

The A team visited Kent looking to consolidate their position at the top of the table. They started slowly, winning one game in the first session but improving with two wins and a draw in the second to trail 9-7.

The afternoon brought two wins and a draw in the third session and two wins in the final session plus bonus points in the singles and fours for a final defeat by 22-18, enough to retain top spot.

In the singles Bognor’s Brian Mills won 16-10 and 14-10 while club-mate Clive Andrews lost 13-10 and 9-11. In the pairs Bognor’s Pam Andrews lost 15-14 and 24-7.

In the triples Bognor’s David Stansmore with Crablands’ Mollie Back and Fittleworth’s Bernard Adsett drew 10-10 and won 17-9. In the fours Bognor’s Peter Watters with Lavant’s Terry Haigh won 13-6 and lost 10-8 while Bognor’s Marlene Steel with The Martlets’ Monica Enticknap and Fittleworth’s Dave Herbert won 14-5 and 12-10.

ARUN

Arun travelled to Camberley and won 115-95.

Scores: J Boucher, S Simmonds, R Wiedenheoft, M Phillips won 26-7; L Curtis, L Carthew, L Hathaway, C Bowles won 27-11; E Keywood, E Fitch, M Potter, D Latter won 21-16; P Terry, J Whitfield, P Jones, W Adams lost 15-21; C Hillier, S Jones, C Horsley, B Jones lost 13-20; O Fidgeon, J Hamilton, S Stocker, G Conley lost 13-20.

In the Masons Trophy, Arun’s A team scraped through by one shot after losing heavily away but winning well at home.